The Global Churches’ Week of Action on Food
Our faith calls us to work for a world where everyone has sufficient, healthy and culturally appropriate food! And those who produce and prepare the food are fairly compensated, respected and celebrated!
The Food Week of Action, October 12-19, is an opportunity for Christians and others around the world to act together for food justice and food sovereignty. It is a special time to raise awareness about farming approaches that help individuals and communities develop resiliency and combat poverty. We can also examine our food choices and call for policy changes that will ensure the right to food for everyone.
Food Week of Action—Sunday Oct. 12 through Sunday Oct. 19—includes World Food Day (October 16) as well as the International Day for Rural Women (October 15) and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (October 17).
Look for the three 2014 ACTIONS now and during Food Week on pcusa.org/foodweek. Join our Facebook event to participate in daily actions starting with a WEBINAR Monday!) with hundreds of other people of faith, and check here to see what events may be going on in your community! (Are you organizing an event that’s not already on this list? Let us know!)
RESILIENCY is the focus for this year’s Food Week of Action.
- Resilient livelihoods, communities and relationships
- Resilient farming production and food chains
- Resiliency promoted through policy
Increasing resiliency brings food security, health and a sustainable future. To get there we support and spread:
- food democracy so those closest to the challenges have an effective voice
- sustainable, agroecological food production, which fits local contexts and provides ample food where needed most, and adaptability to climate change
- fair prices and distribution to ensure livelihoods for farmers and their communities
- actions to reduce food waste throughout the food chain
- policies that promote all the above!
People in the U.S. and worldwide are taking back their food systems—fighting for their land and waterways, reclaiming vacant lots, teaching others how to grow food, and developing local distribution systems—while simultaneously creating jobs, providing fresh food, preserving the environment, building rural-urban connections, advocating for just policies, and revitalizing their communities.
Activity Ideas for the Food Week of Action
- Worship: Organize a church service during the week. PHP’s own Bryce Wiebe has created the liturgy this year. Find it and other materials from the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance here. You can also draw from past worship materials, including the World Food Day Prayer, available at pcusa.org/foodweek.
- Ask questions: Explore in a group how we could become more efficient in the use of our natural resources, preserve biodiversity and provide balanced nutritious diets for future generations by studying the PHP and EAA action guides and resource materials available at pcusa.org/foodweek.
- Learn from the experts: Invite a local farmer to share his or her reflections about the food system at your next Sunday gathering or church study group.
- Watch and learn: Check out the 11 videos people made for the Real Food Media contest. Or just do a search for food + justice on youtube.com and see what you find.
- Share your food story: Tell YOUR food story with a captioned photo, video or written post social media (e.g. YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook), using the hashtag #myfoodstory via @e_alliance and @presbyhunger.
- Grow where you live: Host a competition to showcase the top 3, 5, or 10 best urban agriculture projects in your area so that they can be models for cities everywhere.
- Explore your faith and your food: Select a food-related biblical passage and share with your church study group or family what it means to you. See the curricula and faith-based Bible study guides at pcusa.org/foodweek.
- Get your hands in the dirt: Plan a church or family trip to your nearest farm to learn more about where your food comes from and the steps involved in getting what’s grown to your plate. Consider starting a community garden.
- Eat what you preach: Organize a church or community dinner and encourage people to bring dishes prepared with local produce. If ingredients are not local, people can be encouraged to read food labels so that they know where their food is coming from. Labels for dishes can share the source of food, and conversation can be encouraged about changes seen in local food growing and buying, and why these changes have occurred.
- Celebrate local foods and knowledge: Organize a community fair that showcases local food producers and shares the stories of farmers and people involved in food justice.
Let us know what you are doing for World Food Day or the Churches’ Week of Action by emailing Andrew Kang Bartlett.
Click here to learn more about the Presbyterian Hunger Program and it’s variety of ministries!
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